Translated from the Japanese by Amy Hirschman
Quirk Books, 2011
Book does not come with live cat.
So the best thing about being sent a review copy of
Crafting with Cat Hair was getting to gauge people's reactions to it when they saw it on my desk. Everyone looked at it, then looked at me, and I knew they couldn't decide if it was a joke or not. Well, people, it's not a joke, it's a review copy. And because I am a very thorough reviewer, I have actually crafted with cat hair. And am now writing to tell you about it.
Crafting with Cat Hair is a translation of a Japanese book about making tiny versions of your cat using its own shed fur. I have a serious weakness for Japanese craft books, but using cat hair as a craft material is not something I've ever considered before. The closest I've ever come is borrowing
Knitting with Dog Hair (1994) from the Vancouver Public Library, purely out of morbid curiosity.
I don't consider a craft book properly reviewed unless you've actually tried the projects, so I called my friend Leone. Leone has access to cat hair, and since she's a kindergarten teacher, I figured she'd be used to gross things.
Like most Japanese craft books,
Crafting with Cat Hair is pleasing to look at, with clear, arty photos and cute page layouts. Information on cats and cat hair is interspersed, a bit randomly, between the projects. The author discusses the properties of cat hair: the difference between undercoat hair and topcoat hair, how cat hair differs from wool, the most efficient ways to gather cat hair. The book also makes the startling claim that "cats do not naturally produce any bad smells, and neither does their hair" Perhaps this is characteristic of highly-engineered Japanese cats (like
Memebon)? Leone confirmed that this was not true of her cats, Spike and Lala.
This one is Lala. The projects all use wet-felting or needle-felting techniques. Most of the projects involve making cat-shaped patches that can be needle-felted onto scarves, tote bags, pin cushions and other items. The end results are pretty cute, with a restrained aesthetic I always associate with Japanese crafts.
Leone and I decided to make the first project in the book, a small cat-shaped finger puppet. We ran into a problem right off the bat. I didn't receive my review copy until early November, and according to this chart in the book, November and December are the worst months for cat hair crafting:
Leone is such a helpful person that she saved a little Ziplock bag of cat hair every time she brushed Spike and Lala. Eventually, we had enough to start (the book recommends about 4 brushfuls of hair).
We assembled our supplies: cardboard, saran wrap, the tiny bag of hair.
The instructions in the book are very thorough. We had no trouble following them, although we did have some trouble executing them (this was no fault of the book though -- it's reasonable for our first attempt to be a little wonky).
We cut out a cardboard template and wrapped in Saran wrap to waterproof it. The book instructs you sealing the template with packing tape but we didn't have any. I don't recommend skipping this step.
Then, we wrapped the template in a thin layer of cat fur. We didn't have enough fur in any single colour, so we tried to make the puppet striped. (For best results, the book recommends using one colour of fur. Stick to this).
Next, we wet-felted the puppet using hot water and dish detergent. This part was pretty gross. The stripes all mixed together and the resulting clump of wet brown hair looked like something you would pull out of a drain.
At one point, the puppet developed a hole and we didn't have any more hair to patch it with. Conveniently, the cats had been scrapping a few minutes earlier and had left several tufts of hair on the carpet. I grabbed one and felted it on to the puppet.
The puppet was less horrifying when it dried. The cat hair felt had a very fine texture and a halo that reminded us of kid mohair.
Even though it was basically an effigy of her beloved cats, Leone was not enchanted by the puppet.
Leone wouldn't let me leave the puppet at her house, and I couldn't bring it home because of Curt's allergies. So I brought the puppet to work and left it on a coworker's desk.
He was not at all horrified when I told him it was made from cat hair. The puppet has now become incorporated into the mess on his desk and I don't think I'll see it again, which is totally fine with me.
In short: if you want to make little crafts out of cat hair, this book is undoubtedly the most complete book on the subject. We found it pleasing to look at and easy to follow. Whether you want to make things from cat hair is up to you. Also, if your office mates aren't surprised when you leave things made from cat hair on their desks, maybe you should re-evaluate your life choices.
